Sunderland didn’t bother to offer an excuse or commentary as he stalked behind her.
The servants worked quickly. In his manic state, Ian wondered if they were magicians who manifested the barrels of seawater out of thin air and delivered them to the bathing room.
Diana was groggy as Amelia and the maid undressed her. When they went to move her to the bathing room, Ian’s composure snapped.
“Without her consent, no one else is touching her but me,” he snarled.
He removed his shirt—he wasn’t sure how active the bathing process was going to be—and gathered Diana into his arms.
“Ian?” Her lips were hot as they pressed against his throat. “I was dreaming of you. We were together, with nothing separating us.”
“That sounds like my dreams, love.”
“Do you know how I’ve longed for your skin against mine?” She grazed a hand over his bare chest. “Why must I be so ill when this is finally happening?”
“It’s unfair,” he agreed, his voice hoarse. He couldn’t swallow her suffering.
“Where are we going?”
“Sea bathing, love. We brought the ocean to you. It’s going to be brisk. It will steal your breath, and I know how you love to be breathless with me. Are you ready?”
“Don’t go,” she pleaded.
“I’ll be right here.”
As gently as he could, he placed her in the tub.
Diana shuddered and cried out. She clung to him by digging her nails into his chest, and he was glad he’d had the forethought to preserve his only shirt.
“It’s too much,” she sobbed.
“It’s only a short while,” he soothed. “I’m right here,tesora mia.Hold my hand while I tell you one of my father’s stories about the selkies.”
Her clasp on his hand grew limp as sobs racked her body. He’d considered himself a man of a certain strength, but the entire endeavor made him feel a helplessness that was worse than any weakness he could imagine.
By the time Amelia knocked on the door to deliver warmed towels and a fresh nightgown for Diana, he was sure he’d spent years in hell.
“Would you like some help getting her dressed?” Amelia asked, adding, “I know you don’t need it—”
“Yes,” he said with a grateful nod. “I would appreciate that. Thank you.”
When he drew Diana out of the bath, her shudders subsided.
“Her skin feels cooler,” Amelia said with a tight smile.
They settled Diana back into bed. The doctor returned and measured her temperature with a glass thermometer.
He turned to Ian with a cautious smile. “Better.”
Ian staggered to the chair beside the fireplace, and quietly went to pieces.
Diana knew the fever was an insidious enemy.
She was grateful she couldn’t remain conscious. Whenever she woke, they plunged her in the frigid sea bath. Afterward, she could only stop shuddering when Ian’s strong arms gathered her tightly to him. She feared the infection had spread to her brain because she felt like she was flying as she searched for his heartbeat, and the warmth of his skin.
In her more lucid moments, she noted the tight lines that bracketed his mouth and forehead and hated that she’d caused him such distress.
Eventually, the persistent ache in her head subsided, and a heavy sleep came over her. When she woke again, she felt like an empty shell, but the horrible heat that had haunted her for days had fled.
